Kesha tattooed the words “Live Free” across her knuckles on August 30, 2017, a few weeks after releasing her third album Rainbow. It took five years for Kesha to release the album due to the legal battles with her label, and having it out in the world marks a major step forward for her. She posted a picture of the “Free” tattoo on her instagram and wrote:

funny how words take on such important meaning once you start living and find yourself looking for the perfect letters to make up the perfect word to make up the perfect feeling…..

Freedom means a lot to Kesha, especially since she’s had to fight so hard to gain creative control over her music and be freed from producer Dr Luke. She signed to his label Kemosabe Records when she was 18 years old and all of the songs that she released on her first two albums Animal and Warrior were subject to his approval. Kesha wrote over seventy songs for Warrior, most of which were scrapped, and also began working on an album with The Flaming Lips that she was not allowed to release. Fans began demanding that the label set Kesha free from Dr Luke and shared their support for the #FreeKesha movement.

Dr Luke’s control over Kesha went beyond their creative differences. In October 2014 she filed a lawsuit outlining all of the emotional, physical, and sexual abuse that she suffered. She alleges that Dr Luke drugged and raped her, and that his abuse caused her to have an eating disorder. Unfortunately most of Kesha’s claims were dismissed by a judge. She had held her silence for so long that the alleged rape was past the statute of limitations. Even worse, Kesha is now having to defend herself in court against Dr Luke’s counter-claims that she has defamed him and damaged his career.

Though the legal battle is ongoing, Kesha was finally able to release an album that fits her own creative vision. The album Rainbow and it’s lead single “Praying” were both nominated for Grammy Awards — Kesha’s first.

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Kesha got this colorful tiger’s head tattooed on the back of her left hand from artist Derrick Snodgrass at Saved Tattoo in Los Angeles. She showed off the new tattoo in an instagram photo on February 1, 2017 and captioned it “fukin meow.”

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Kesha showed off this new whale tattoo on her instagram in January 2017. “Psychedelic whales are slowly covering my entire body…” she wrote. The tattoo depicts an orca whale colored in neon pink and chartreuse rather than its natural black and white. This is Kesha’s fourth sea creature tattoo, following the humpback whale on her forearm, whale shark on her wrist, and narwhal on her elbow.(more…)

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Kesha commemorated her Halloween celebration with this narwhal tattoo on the outside of her right forearm. She had dressed up in a narwhal onesie which was a gift from a fan and partied with a few close friends. The next day, November 1, 2016, she got this cutesy narwhal tattoo to remind her of the fun night spent with true friends.

“haaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. had to immortalize last night,” she writes. “night night. so grateful for my beautiful magical friends. when u find the real ones hold on tight for dear life y’all. they’re what’ll keep u laughing when life throws you shitheads and douchebags.” “btw I was a NARWHAL tonight which was a present given to me by one of my darling animals on this past tour *FUN FACT*”

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Kesha got this tattoo of a smiley face on her right middle finger from artist Derrick Snodgrass on November 1, 2016 during the same session as her narwhal tattoo. She explained on her instagram that the tattoo represents her personal happiness:

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Kesha gave herself this stick-and-poke whale tattoo while on vacation in Mexico in May 2016. “New tattoo? … whale shark blob whatever. I hope my hand doesn’t fall off,” she wrote in an instagram photo. Kesha went swimming with whale sharks on the trip and it was a spiritual experience for her. “When a whale shark decides to be ur best friend and reconnect you to your true self and nature and spirituality and magic and beauty and love and gratitude…..I LOVE THIS WHALE SHARK. I CANT EVEN. #whalesharklife,” she wrote. Now that feeling is commemorated permanently with this tattoo.

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Kesha added a rainbow next to her palm tree in February 2016 as a symbol of luck. “Good luck charm,” she wrote on instagram. There are no black outlines on the tattoo, so over time the colors will blend together as it fades.

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Kesha got this tattoo of an alien spaceship on her left forearm in February 2016. The simple drawing includes dotted lines to indicate that it is about to abduct someone. “Meet me in space,” she wrote on instagram. Her artist Sean From Texas frequently features aliens and spaceships in his tattoos.

Kesha got a tattoo of a humpback whale on her left forearm from artist Matt Ahn at Invisible NYC in January 2016. “Save the whales save the whales save the whales – gorgeous ink from @[email protected] thank u! I love my whale! it reminds me of when I deep dive with them in the oceannnnnn,” she wrote. She has nicknamed her tattoo “Stuart.” Kesha loves sea creature so much that she gave herself a second whale tattoo a few months later.

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Kesha has a tattoo on her left middle finger knuckle. It was done by artist Sean From Texas in November 2015, at the same time as her Saturn palm tattoo. She captioned a photo of the new tatt “Child of the moon.”

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Kesha got a tattoo of the planet Saturn on her left palm from artist Sean From Texas in November 2015. The tattoo symbolizes that Kesha is going through the “return of Saturn” period of her life. The planet Saturn occupies the same place in the sky every 29.5 years, and horoscopic astrology believes that it significant when Saturn returns to same place in the sky that it was at the time when a person was born. It is thought that years surrounding the first return of Saturn are when a person becomes fully an adult. This period lasts roughly from age 27 to 31. Kesha, who was born on March 1, 1987, was 28 years old when she got the tattoo.

Kesha’s first full-color tattoo was this rainbow which she got on the top of her foot from artist Robert Ryan in May 2015. At one end of the rainbow is a cloud with an eye at the center. At the other end is a cluster of a stars and a planet with rings like Saturn. (more…)

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Kesha has an eye tattoo on the palm of her right hand which features prominently in her “Crazy Kids” music video. Its placement is inspired by Middle Eastern hamsa amulets, which are shaped like a hand with an eye in the center. The hamsa is thought to provide protection from the “evil eye” and other evil spirits.

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Kesha got this dollar sign tattoo early in her career. The dollar sign in her name actually came from her tattoo which symbolizes her lack of money at the time.

“The dollar sign in my name is a tattoo–a bad tattoo. And, uh, it just came about because I was broke, and I was just making a joke out of it. Instead of being, like, mad like, ‘I’m so broke,’ I was just like, ‘WHATEVER! Out of money…Whatever. I don’t need money.’ So, out of money, put it on my hand, put it in my name, and it was just kind of a joke, and it stuck.”

She stylized her name as Ke$ha for many years. After she left rehab in March 2014 she turned over a new leaf and dropped the dollar sign from her name because she felt that it represented her old self.

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Kesha tattooed “SUCK IT!” on the inside of her lip in June 2012. The inner lip is often used for silly tattoos such as these because it’s almost always hidden, but Kesha showed hers off in a photo posted to her twitter.

She got the tattoo as a way of telling off her haters. She revealed to Conan “I was kind of fed up with all the nasty little bloggers and I was like ‘you know what, suck it.’”(more…)

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Kesha got this letter “C” tattoo on her foot for an appearance on Conan O’Brien’s show in August 2014. She wore a dress with his face printed on it for her previous visit, but this time she took it a step further.

“It’s for you,” she told Conan. “I was so excited to see you last night, I was in a frenzy. I was running around with my cats and I didn’t know what to do, and so I tattooed a C on my foot.”

She convinced her assistant to get the C tattoo as well. “My assistant, who has no tattoos, she’s like the sweetest little angel — I was like ‘come here’ and I chased her down and gave her one too.”(more…)

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Kesha tattooed the word “ANIMAL” on the top of her left foot in July 2013. It is in honor of her fans, whom she calls animals. Animal was the title of her 2010 debut album. She shared a picture of the tattoo on instagram with the caption “I love my animals. I couldn’t sleep because I was so overwhelmed by how amazing you all are to me.”(more…)

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Kesha got a cat face on her left big toe in July 2013 at the same time as her “Animal” tattoo. She is a huge cat lover and has three pet cats — Mr. Peep$, Mr. Fluffy Pant$, and Charlie.

She has also jokingly formed a Cat Cult. “So I’ve always wanted to have a cult, I think I could be a pretty good cult leader,” she told E!. “So I’m going to start a cult and people can be in it if they like to be cats or play with cats or play with cat toys.”(more…)

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Kesha got this homemade cross tattoo on her wrist in celebration of completing her first album in 2009. A friend did the tattoo using a safety pin and pen ink.

She told Details “I had just finished my record, so that night we got a little crazy, and we thought it was a really good idea to give each other tattoos to symbolize such a special event in my life. So he gave me a cross. Or one could call it a t. Or an x.”(more…)

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Kesha’s anchor tattoo on her wrist was her first. “The first tattoo is an anchor I got when I snuck into Cuba when I was 18. I got that because we were hanging out with this guy, and he was like, ‘If you give me five dollars, I’ll give you a tattoo.’ So I’m like, ‘All right, fine.’ He gave me an anchor tattoo because I’m a diver.”(more…)

42 Comments

I love the tattoos and All the hate is useless its her body so she can do whatever she wants with it so stop and most people are that are hating are usally like 5,6,7 or whatever they just wanna hate most of them can’t even spell!

Yo all u haters need to back off. Its her body let her be her nobody gives a pooabout what u all think. Ke$ha is freaking amazing and of u dont like her why r u all looking her up. Shes my idol and i dont care what any of u peope have to say about that u should all back of cuz its not ur body shes not related to u so back off! Would u like it if somebody told u what to do but if none of u have nothing good to say then dont say anything at all! Because if all you guys have nothing better to do than insult her thats sad and shows everyone that u guys have no life! Shes a legend… So what if she has tattoos they all have aeaning to her they might not to u but its her shes origonal in a awesome way! So stop judging her if u dont like her cuz u only live once and shes having the time of her life! Its her life so stop judgeing her just cuz u dont like it! So yea! Ke$ha u rock! ROCK ON!!

Ke$ha is exactly who she wants to be. She says to always be yourself, unapologetically & to give the finger to the haters.
Her tattoos are on her body. NOT YOURS! Yes tattoos last forever and so will her memories that are attached to them.
It’s 2013.. Sorry to tell you but the bible is out of date. People can believe whatever they choose. You cannot tell her (or anyone else on this earth) what to believe in. You can think her tats are a sign of the devil if you wish but I don’t think she gives a fuck. She’s not telling you how to live your life so don’t tell her how to live hers.

Your comment is a little confusing because of the grammar and spelling errors but how I interpreted what you are say is that all of HER tattoos are in regards to the devil, and not just tattoos in general? If that is what you’re saying then I agree with you. She is like a drone of the illuminati, or as I like to say, killuminati. I also really think she is a reptilian. She’s evil.

Ummm.. There all in the same place. And there kinda dumb tattoos too. And she got a tattoo from some random guy (if she didn’t know him..) for five BUCKS?!? Man i wish REAL tattoos were that cheap. Sucks for me tho..

Kesha is the most random person I have ever seen. Her tattoos are pretty pointless , I mean a tatoo will last on your skin practically forever. Tattos getting with a meaning is something else , thats great if you decide to get a tatoo but atleast it has a bit of a story to it. @Kaysee , I respct that decision about getting your tattoo because of your husband. Her’s are just stupid items that might not even have a meaning to them. I dont really like them may I say. But my oppinion is only one right ? (:

Lol Her tattoos definitely aren’t pointless and have a lot more meaning than she is leading on. They are all so obviously connected to the illuminati. If she’s trying to hide that she’s in it then she isn’t doing a very good job.

My tattoos are homemade too. Big whoop. I have an anchor tatted on me too in the same spot as her. But i honestley think mines more, you know, noticable. I got it cuz my husband’s in the Navy though. And i got a smiley face tatted on me when i was 14. It’s close to where her dollar sign is.